San Diego Comic-Con 2008. Photo Courtesy of Jason Scragz For those unaware, there is an “unofficial girl gamers” thread on the SWTOR forums. It’s in its 4th incarnation last I checked and is garnering thousands of replies. From this thread has also grown a number of girl-gamer websites for female SWTOR fans such as SW Girls started by Amonette. There’s even a girl SWTOR Wiki. No, I’m not kidding you… It’s the go-to place if you’re a female planning to play SWTOR who wants to hook up with other females but it’s not for me. I just like to play my game my way and meet people along the way, regardless of their sex, race, religion or other affiliation. To me, it just doesn’t matter. This got me thinking about the whole gamer-girl thing and how the video game industry has evolved over the years that I’ve been a gamer….
editorial
SWTOR Draws in Non-Star Wars Fans
You’ve heard the buzz about SWTOR. I’ve heard the buzz about SWTOR. Games are talking about it in other MMORPGs. They’re talking about it on the news, on Twitter and even on their lunch breaks at work. But what you might not know is that SWTOR is even drawing in the non-Star Wars fans out there. A perfect case in point is this story from RipTen, “Star Wars: The Old Republic, You Have My Attention”. It’s a fun editorial from Jensen Walker, stating why the author was not previously a Star Wars fan but is intrigued by what SWTOR has to offer. The first reason is not a surprise- BioWare. Many RPG fans are BioWare fans so it’s no surprise that BioWare will bring in a lot of players for that fact alone. But this isn’t enough on its own to have the author playing SWTOR or we would have…
Christian SWTOR Guild Takes Issue with Profanity in Game
A screenshot was released of the beta forums and a particular complaint being made by a member of a self-professed Christian guild regarding profanity filters in the game. This has started a debate, as most things relating to religion will do, but I think it’s worthy of being discussed here. Here’s a screencap of the post that supposedly started it all: Would it have been such a big issue if the player wasn’t part of a Christian guild? Is the real issue with his opinions of profanity filters in the game or the guild that he is a member of? The guild, Saints of the Old Republic, is more than 350 members strong and has been around for more than two years. They received a guild beta invite and are entitled to their opinions on the game just like anyone else. However, those opinions will not come without ridicule. Ridicule…
What Do Gamers Want from SWTOR?
With the countdown to SWTOR going strong, we find ourselves discussing why we are interested in the game and what we really want from this Star Wars MMO. While most everyone loves the idea of playing a Jedi, the answers go deeper when you really ask about. Some gamers are just long time fans of the Star Wars franchise and these are the devoted groups you find willing to check out any SW theme game that comes along. Then there are those who love MMOs and are tired of the many fail MMORPGs that keep finding their way onto the market. Some of us are just looking for a great MMO that isn’t World of Warcraft. Then there are some who want to be able to fly an spacecraft. Are you excited for the space combat? Or not interested in that at all? Some like the…
Editorial: MMORPG standards?
World of Warcraft did not define any type of standard. Blizzard made an MMO that people love to play, and everyone feels they can capitalize off of that success by making inferior, or direct copy, clones. The main problem here is that people are afraid to try anything new, and how can you really blame them? It takes time and money, possibly more so than a regular game, and the chance of failure is higher than normal since the market is just so saturated with free to play MMO’s, the juggernaut, and a handful of fairly successful paid MMO’s. As I see it, there are three kinds of games with three unique objectives: Mindless fun- You play this because it’s a diversion. I played Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory because it was absurdly fun. Didn’t learn anything, didn’t accomplish anything, but I stalked enemies for hours fucking with their heads and…
The Old Republic vs. Knights of the Old Republic 3
The first Knights of the Old Republic game in 2003 was, as a few people may already know, the first thing that really got me into Star Wars; to this day I still remember the amazed feeling of awe I had when I first set foot on Taris and looked at the beautiful city landscape, the shining sun in the game adding to the mood of the setting. The feeling was really cinched when I reached the ultimate twist in the game; that you are in fact Darth Revan, the apparently dead Sith Lord who was betrayed by his (or her) Apprentice, Darth Malak. There’s never been anything that’s really been able to replicate the epicness of this game – even the sequel, penned by game company Obsidian, wasn’t quite as good. I’m one of the few people who thought that The Sith Lords was actually a great game; sure,…